“Don't even ask an Iraqi this question,” Ali Amry says in response to whether he enjoys cooking. “All Iraqis love to cook and love to eat. And what I am not good at cooking, my wife is excellent at.” Ali’s wife, Ahed, is also his business partner at Rahma: Arabian Night Cuisine, their business which they are launching with Spice Kitchen Incubator.  

Ali, who is from Baghdad, spent time at the U.S. Embassy in Iraq while he worked for the U.S. Army as a mechanical engineer. He also accumulated a great deal of food knowledge while he simultaneously worked at the embassy kitchen. The problem? While he had reliable customers preparing food at the Embassy, he does not have a customer base here in Utah. His solution is to educate himself as much as possible. Between various classes offered by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in Salt Lake City, including the recent social media marketing workshop series, he has gathered several tips and tricks.  

Ali and Ahed, participants of Spice Kitchen Incubator, stand together at an event in formal clothes.
Husband and wife Ali and Ahed are also business partners preparing to launch their first restaurant in Salt Lake City.
Photo: Courtesy of Ali and Ahed

“In my opinion, as a potential business owner, you need to learn everything about business, even if you don’t use it, but you have to know about it. Get the full image,” Ali shares. His mission has been to find customers in Utah. The social media marketing workshop series focused on how to build relationships with and maintain customer engagement, helping entrepreneurs create a robust method of media engagement.  

However, throughout the series entrepreneurs learned that, whether they realized it or not, they were already engaging in many of these outreach practices. As Claire Kirkland shares, as instructors shared advice, participants learned they were already looking at social media analytics or engaging through email. “I’m always happy to brag about our small business people, they make it easy,” Claire adds. 

Claire Kirkland, who works as the microenterprise development AmeriCorps VISTA, first began developing the idea of the workshop series in the fall when the economic wellbeing team began to think about how entrepreneurs could maintain their businesses in the face of a pandemic. Talented volunteers joined the series to lead classes on specific media strategies. One class might focus on Instagram analytics while another might focus on email campaigns. “I learned that you will get a response from 3% of the emails you send,” Ali reflects on the knowledge he gathered. “But you can increase the number [of emails you send].” He is now looking forward to starting his food truck with his wife to support themselves and their children.  

For Claire, the best part of the workshops included seeing the wide range of interests that people brought to the table. “In a single session there was a painter, a sculptor, a jewelry maker, a chef,” she begins listing people of all different talents. “Eight different languages, eight different businesses, but everyone there to learn together,” she says.  

In Utah, entrepreneurs and artisans from refugee backgrounds bring their vast knowledge and incredible skills. You can support their journey as they begin their journey of entrepreneurship in the United States through the IRC's small business programming by donating at Rescue.org/GiveSLC.